Working on Merton and the four paths of Creation Spirituality during the whole week, I realized in a new way how accomplished he was. While in my experience most people excel in one or two of the four paths, Merton seems to have mastered them all. His complete immersion in the blessings of creation around him (via positiva), his equally deep immersion in the nothingness or absence of thoughts and ideas, even about God (via negativa), his volcanic output of poetry, prose, and visual arts (via creativa) and his unreserved compassionate union with all fighters for justice (via transformativa) are outstanding.
In my unabashed praise of Merton, I want to stay clear of the ideal of perfection that has engendered so much religious neurosis and that has pushed Matthew Fox to redefine holiness as “cosmic hospitality” (see my DM on May 5). Indeed we can look at Merton not as somebody who strived toward perfection — in fact, he had humorous words for those who did — but as somebody who welcomed all that came to him, from his inner stirrings to the farthest spiritual tradition. It is such utter welcoming, without losing one inch of his unique personality and his grounding in his faith, which made of him the complete individual that I am proposing for your admiration.
In all of this, he was quite imperfect, as perfection is measured by imaginary objective standards, and there was nothing standard about him. It is somewhat disheartening — but probably Merton would have found it tremendously funny — that today an American Roman Catholic bishop who is known for his presence on social media talks about Merton as “surely a master of spirituality but clearly not a saint.” Almost 60 years have passed since Merton’s death, and some 40 years since Matthew’s Original Blessing, and still some Catholic leaders treat Merton with condescension, although they want to exploit his spiritual theology — which is, after all, a treasure —while they keep thinking of sainthood as some imaginary perfection.
Merton obviously is not a saint in Bishop Barron’s understanding, because he was truly and confidently himself. Therefore, he made mistakes and he was unsure about this and that, well until the end of his life. He mused about the possibility of leaving the monastery, he had a relationship with a woman, and in some ways he became a Buddhist. All of it makes him more complete to my eyes, but obviously “not a saint” in Barron’s eyes. I propose that we make him a saint in the pantheon of Creation Spirituality, to the extent that such a thing can be done, and not without humor.
“Recently in the breviary we had a saint who, at the point of death, removed his pontifical vestments and got out of bed. He died on the floor, which is only right: but one hardly has time to be edified by it – one is still musing over the fact that he had pontifical vestments on in bed” — writes Merton in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. I wonder how this still applies not just to religious leaders but to all of us. Taking oneself too seriously prevents oneself from happiness and from being of any use to the world. I speak because I know.
Of course, there is nothing to laugh about in the state of the world today, I know that too. Sometimes mine is a laughter out of tension, just to release it. We are living through an experience of televised evil like probably has never been the case before. There is no other way now than to walk in the pain with those who suffer, and feel it with them. Yet humor and laughter are also part of the via negativa, did you know? Not only can they release the excessive accumulation of tension, but also they can dismantle in the blink of an eye those imaginary castles of honor and pride and lies that humans build to preserve themselves from the truth.
So let’s be imperfect, always fighting for justice, becoming ourselves somehow in the process. And before the ugly face of power, keep that sarcasm going please!
Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 30.
See also Matthew Fox, A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
And Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
And Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
Banner Image: From the sublime to the useful and eco-conscious: a statue commemorating Merton anchors a bike rack next to the plaque marking his ecstatic vision on the streets of Louisville, KY. Photo by Sharon Mollerus on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
Is there a place for humor in your spirituality, at such a difficult time as ours?
Recommended Reading
A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and action, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey.
“This wise and marvelous book will profoundly inspire all those who love Merton and want to know him more deeply.” — Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
